ZICO, the iconic Brazilian, says Chelsea should sign the latest in the line, Barcelona’s Ronaldinho, to add a touch of “fantasy” to their football, and believes the move would benefit both parties. Speaking at roughly the same time that Peter Kenyon, the chief executive at Stamford Bridge, was accepting that the team’s style of play left something to be desired, Zico said: “Chelsea have a team of international stars, some of the best players in the world, but maybe something is missing. They need a player like Ronaldinho, a magician. He is still young [28] and he has qualities nobody else has. With his technique he would be a success anywhere in the world.

“Coming to play in England would be good for him, too. His time is up in Spain and he needs to go somewhere new for motivation.” Despite Manchester City’s declared interest, the smart money is against the twice World Footballer of the Year plying his trade in the Premier League – he seems destined for Milan – but it is easy to see what Zico meant after his Fenerbahce team lost 3-2 on aggregate to Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Avram Grant’s players, like their head coach, are workmanlike rather than exciting. They laboured in seeing off their Turkish visitors last Tuesday. Grant has engaged Phil Hall, a former editor of the News of the World, to improve his dour image. On the field, they lack the sorcery of a Cristiano Ronaldo or a Cesc Fabregas, both of whom can provide value for all that admission money with one moment of magic. This is what Kenyon was getting at in the immediate aftermath of the Fenerbahce match when he said: “I don’t think the football is where we want to be.”

Chelsea’s chairman Bruce Buck then fuelled the impression that the money men are less than thrilled by their lugubrious Israeli when he equivocated on the subject at a supporters’ forum. Asked if Grant would still be in charge next season, Buck replied: “I think it’s a yes or no question and I’m not going to give you a yes or no answer.”

For the moment, criticism must be tempered for two reasons. Firstly, Grant’s lamented predecessor, Jose Mourinho, was himself more belt and braces than Barnum and Bailey, and Grant is still working almost exclusively with the same materials. Secondly, Chelsea could win both the Premier League and the European Cup, rendering censure absurd.

After a marvellous week for English clubs in Europe, the focus today switches to the renewal of domestic hostilities between Manchester United and Arsenal, first and third in the table respectively. No prizes for guessing whom Chelsea will be rooting for.

If Arsenal can prise a point, or even all three, from Old Trafford, Grant and his charges will be able to close to within whites-of-the-eyes range by beating Wigan at home tomorrow, and could then go top by winning their rearranged game at Everton on Thursday. In that event, United’s visit to the Bridge on April 26 really would be “squeaky bum time”, to borrow Sir Alex Ferguson’s familiar phrase.

The odds, however, favour two home wins in these next 24 hours. The Arsenal players must be lower than a boa’s belly after that demoralising reversal of fortunes at Anfield in midweek, and will journey back to the northwest more in hope than expectation.

The Gunners have been well and truly spiked, a season that promised so much disintegrating over the past 12 games, which have produced just two wins. Chelsea must pray that their London rivals react to their Liverpool defeat like wounded animals, rather than cowering canines, and that they can inflict at least as much damage as Middlesbrough, who drew 2-2 at the Riverside last Sunday. Such an outcome would blow the title race wide open again.

Chelsea believe, with justification, that they are waxing stronger at the right time. They are unbeaten in their past 16 league matches, having taken 40 points from a possible 48, and have important players available again. As Joe Cole put it: “We’ve had a lot of injuries and lost players to the African Cup of Nations, so to be in this position is a remarkable achievement. The players who missed games are fresh, ready and hungry, and I think that will give us the edge.”

The stats backing up his contention make interesting reading. Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s principal goalscorer, has missed more league matches than he has played this season, appearing in only 16 out of 33. Frank Lampard, the other main source of goals, has been absent for 11 league games. The first-choice centre-halves, John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, have each played just 18.

The list goes on. Peter Cech, the world’s best goalkeeper, has missed 12 league games, and is out again, Michael Essien 11, Claude Makelele 18. Michael Ballack, more influential by the week, has played only 14 times.

The consequences were inevitable. The old consistency, of personnel and performance, has not been there this season. Chelsea’s leading scorer in the league is Lampard with 10 – all but one of Nicolas Anelka’s 11 came before he left Bolton. For purposes of comparison, Ronaldo has 27 for United, Emmanuel Adebayor 19 for Arsenal and Liverpool’s Fernando Torres 21. Last season Drogba scored 20.

Of the current run-in, Drogba said: “We’ve had a good week. Last weekend helped us, the way the other results went, and Tuesday night finished that off nicely. We are fighting for the title, as well as the Champions League, which is exciting, but also demanding. We need to play with maximum intensity in every game, which is never easy, but we have a good chance in both competitions.”

Such a denouement would almost certainly be a valedictory triumph for the big Ivorian, who is expected to leave at the end of the season, probably for Real Madrid. Lampard, too, is not enamoured of the present regime, and is also destined for Spain. David Villa, the Valencia striker, appears to be headed in the opposite direction, to team up with Anelka as Drogba’s replacement.

For the time being, however, supporters will be more interested in the possibility of Chelsea winning both major trophies, in which case “Average Grant” would become “Avram the Great” overnight.